Do Higher Education Institutions Need a Digital Passport

The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2017
Do Higher Education Institutions
Need a Digital Passport?
Dr David Parsons - National Postgraduate Director

The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2017The Mind Lab by Unitec | Teaching and Learning | 2016The Mind Lab by Unitec | TEMC 2018
The Mind Lab by Unitec are a provider of
accredited postgraduate qualifications for
educators and innovators:
● Postgraduate Certificate in Applied
Practice (Digital and Collaborative
Learning)
● Master of Technological Futures
● Master of Teaching and Education
Leadership
● Master of Contemporary Education
The Mind Lab

The Mind Lab by Unitec | 2017The Mind Lab by Unitec | TEMC 2018
You’re probably
wondering ‘what’, but I’ll
start with the the middle
of the golden circle
Sinek, S, (2009). Start With Why - How Great Leaders Inspire
Everyone to Take Action. New York, NY: Penguin
Start With Why
Why?
How?
What?

Why...
...might Higher Education need to change?

The Current HE Model
Substitution
Augmentation
Absorption
So far, higher education has
largely been able to ignore
fundamental social changes
by integrating WiFi networks
and student-owned devices
into the old models of
teaching and learning
Brett Jordan - WikiMedia Commons

We tend to overestimate the effect of a
technology in the short run and underestimate
the effect in the long run
VanDerLinden, K. (2014). Blended Learning as Transformational Institutional Learning. New Directions for Higher
Education, 165, 75–84.
Amara’s law

Digital Generations
Generation Z, iGeneration, Gen Tech, Gen Wii, Net Gen,
Digital Natives, Plurals, Generation C
“This is the first generation to be born in a post-Internet
world, truly device-in-hand”
Boroujerdi, R. & Wolf, C. (2015). What If I Told You… Themes, Dreams and Flying Machines. Goldman Sachs Equity
Research. Retrived from http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/pages/macroeconomic-insights-folder/what-
if-i-told-you/report.pdf

Demography and Technology
While simplistic notions of the Net generation of Digital
Natives may be discredited, there is significant
demographic change in the Millennial student cohort,
including extensive technology use.
Jones, C., Ramanau, R., Cross. S. & Healing. G. (2010). Net generation or Digital Natives: Is there a distinct new
generation entering university? Computers & Education, 54(3), 722–732.

How...
...is the education system responding to the
nth industrial revolution?

Digital Skill and Curricula
Governments across the developed world are grappling
with the issue of how digital skills fit into their nation’s
curricula

Specialist Curricula
Computing specialisations in higher education have had subject-
specific curricula for decades, e.g. ACM Curricula for
● Computer Engineering
● Computer Science
● Information Systems
● Information Technology
● Software Engineering
However, the increasing proliferation of digital tools into wider society
raises serious questions for how higher education institutions will
teach future cohorts of students.

Curriculum as Merchandise
School sells curriculum - a bundle of goods
made according to the same process and
having the same structure as other
merchandise.
Illich, I. (1973). Deschooling Society. Harmondsworth, Middlesex.

Two Types of Curriculum
Specialisation curriculum Entitlement curriculum
Traditional model Old model for literacy and numeracy, new
model for technology
A minority of students specialise in high
level learning in CS/IS etc.
All students are provided with learning
experiences with digital technologies
Focused curriculum Broad, cross-curriculum
How technologies are used in R&D How technologies are used across wider
society
Specific skills such as coding and big
data analysis
Generic skills such as computational thinking
and digital fluency

Australian Curriculum (ACARA)

NZ Digital Curriculum
Computational Thinking for
Digital Technologies
Designing and Developing
Digital Outcomes
● Algorithms
● Control structures
● Documentation, testing and
debugging
● Data types, binary digits
● Human-computer interaction
● Select tools/techniques
● Iterative processes
● Select software and file types
● Create software outcomes
● Operating systems
● Storage
● Security and privacy

What...
...is the digital passport, and how does it help
us to address any of these issues?

The Digital Passport
● Captures the essence of the entitlement curriculum in
a set of online resources (videos, teaching materials,
questions…)
● Intended to enable all teachers in New Zealand to be
prepared to teach the new digital curriculum
● Freely available to teachers through a charitable trust
● Provides a roadmap to the skills and capabilities that
future students entering higher education in New
Zealand will have

The Digital Passport

So...
If teaching staff in higher education need to upskill in the
pedagogical use of digital technologies to better serve
their future students, what entitlement curriculum would
a higher education digital passport/suitcase/?? need to
address?

HE Entitlement Curriculum
1. Digital Technology for Learning
All students should experience how to utilise digital tools
in collaborative, creative ways to help develop their
knowledge and skills in their chosen disciplines
2. Digital Technology for Life
All graduates should be ready to apply digital tools in
productive ways in their chosen life paths

The HE Digital Passport
● Should at the very least inform Higher Ed staff what
kinds of skills and competencies have been developed
in their students while at school
● Should provide Higher Ed staff with ideas and
materials for how to further apply and develop these
skills and competencies in teaching and learning,
regardless of discipline
● Should provide Higher Ed staff with ways to integrate
digital learning into their specific disciplines

… would you put into a Higher Education Digital Passport?
What...

Do Higher Education Institutions Need a Digital Passport

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